December 22
:
Seeking, Searching, Finding

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Week Four Introduction
December 22–28
Title: Seeking, Searching, Finding

Jesus declared the purpose of his advent in Luke 19:10: “The Son of Man has come [into the world] to seek and to save that which was lost.” To be human is to experience loss—a profound separation from the God we were created to be in fellowship with. Jesus explained in Luke 15 that his searching for us is like a poor woman who turns her abode upside down looking for a lost coin, the beautiful shepherd who leaves his flock to rescue the one sheep who is missing, the patient dad who runs to meet the prodigal when he finally returns to his father’s home. Thus the Messiah comes in love to find and reconcile us to God through faith in his saving work. We celebrate the glorious season of Christmas with fervent enthusiasm because Christ’s birth is the beginning of our salvation!

He not only seeks us, but it is our duty to search for Him. The Old Testament is full of exhortations to seek God––“But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 4:29, NKJV). In the passages we’ll examine this week, God provided signs for those who were seeking the Christ child. The shepherds were visited by angelic hosts who declared the good news of Christ’s birth. “And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger” (Luke 2:16). In their search, the wisemen were led by Christ’s star first to the palace of King Herod in Jerusalem, and then to Bethlehem “till it came and stood over where the young Child was.”

(Matthew 2:9). Faithful Simeon spent his life in the sanctuary, seeking the power and glory of God. The Holy Spirit revealed Christ to Simeon when he encountered the holy family in the temple (Luke 2:25–28). And in the calling of the disciples, Jesus asked, “What do you seek?” (John 1:38). A short while later, through the words and actions of Christ, Andrew readily declared to his brother Peter, “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41). Later, Christ told his followers, “You did not [find] me, but I [found] you” (John 15:16).

What are you seeking at this juncture in your life? What are the desires of your heart? In the Song of Songs, the Shulamite maiden is continually searching. The Song seems to be about searching almost as much as it is about finding. Like Mary and Joseph anxiously looking for the child Christ, so too, the Shulamite cannot rest until she finds her beloved and is at home in his arms once more. In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ invites all to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). Jesus is the kingdom. Those who find him and enter into his glorious presence are wise, for they have discovered the “pearl of great price.” God promises that through earnest asking we will receive answers to our prayers; if we diligently seek, we will find a treasure house of abundant life and peace; and by knocking we will enter into the joy of the Lord. Immanuel, God is with us—God is in us. Maranatha! The Messiah has found us! Hallelujah! We have found the Messiah!

Day 22 - Sunday, December 22
Title: Holy Wisdom; Seek and You Will Find
Scripture #1: Proverbs 3:13–18 (NKJV)
Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding; for her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. Length of days is in her right hand, In her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who retain her.
Scripture #2: Matthew 6:33; 7:7–8 (NKJV)

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you…Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

Poetry:
“The Change Has Come”
by Paul Laurence Dunbar

The change has come, and Helen sleeps—
Not sleeps; but wakes to greater deeps
     Of wisdom, glory, truth, and light,
     Than ever blessed her seeking sight,
     In this low, long, lethargic night,
          Worn out with strife
          Which men call life.

The change has come, and who would say
"I would it were not come to-day?"
      What were the respite till to-morrow?
      Postponement of a certain sorrow,
      From which each passing day would borrow!
           Let grief be dumb,
           The change has come.

HOLY WISDOM; SEEK AND YOU WILL FIND

Every human being is on a quest. We are on a pilgrimage. We are searching for something. Often, we do not know what it is we look for, but we look nonetheless. We recognize that inarticulate longing at the core of our being. It drives us on our pilgrimage. Reports of the search are all around. They fill our ears and eyes as we listen to music, watch people in the square, look in the mirror. The band, U2 cataloged the many gifts of life, but declared, “I still haven't found what I'm looking for.” Everyone sang along. Paul Simon reflected: “The open palm of desire wants everything. It wants everything, it wants everything.” The cry for everything is our relentless desire.

Our nearly hypnotic quest is not something to tame, to discipline, to repent. It is the seed of the image into which we were made. There is a taste of eternity in our hearts. It bubbles to the surface in this quest.

We seek. We must seek. We are seeking beings. But, what do we seek? What is it that people want?

Fundamentally, people are longing to be human. We are wanting a deep experience with a healthy and sane humanness. No one says out loud, “I want to be human.” Instead, we say, “I want a job I am passionate about.” “I want to accomplish something.” “I still haven’t found what I am looking for.” We make bucket lists.

The Proverbs remind us:

Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding; for her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain, more than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her.

To gain and practice wisdom is to inhabit a sound and sane human life. It is to live a humanly good life.

Jesus reminds us that if we seek, we will find. The key to seeking and finding a truly human life is to seek his Kingdom. Jesus is, after all, the complete human being. He is the one who lives as we should live, who loves as we should love. We are being made more like him through the Spirit. To become more like Jesus is to become more truly human. It is to reflect the glorious image of God more clearly.

We are longing to be human. Jesus invites us into his Kingdom. He leads us in this pilgrimage. He is the path and the destination. We seek. We will find. The great grace upon grace is that the very one we seek is the one who seeks us.

Prayer:
Jesus, direct my path as I proceed on this pilgrimage. Lead me to wisdom. Bring me into a more clear picture of who you are. Allow me to taste your image in my soul. Turn my seeking into s delight in you. To your Glory!
Amen.

Dr. Greg E. Ganssle
Professor of Philosophy
Talbot School of Theology
Biola University

For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.


About the Artwork:
Solomon and Lady Wisdom
Image from the The Bible in Pictures
Schnorr von Carolsfeld
Engraving
Public domain

In the Bible, Lady Wisdom is a literary representation of God's wisdom and a prominent character in the first chapters of Proverbs. In Proverbs 9, Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly mirror each other in several speeches. According to Scripture, the seven pillars that uphold wisdom's house are fear of the Lord, instruction, knowledge, understanding, discretion, counsel, and reproof.
https://bibleproject.com/podcast/beginning-lady-wisdom/#:~:text=But%20Lady%20Wisdom%2C%20a%20literary,the%20opening%20chapters%20of%20Proverbs.&text=was%20a%20key%20resource%20for,both%20his%20humanity%20and%20deity.
https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/what-are-the-seven-pillars-of-wisdom.html

About the Artist:
Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1794–1872) was a German painter, chiefly of biblical subjects. As a young man he associated with the painters of the Nazarene movement, who revived the Renaissance style in religious art. He is remembered for his extensive Picture Bible, and his designs for stained glass windows in cathedrals. Schnorr von Carolsfeld was particularly influenced by his close study of fifteenth-century Italian painting, especially the works of artist Fra Angelico. Soon however, he abandoned this refined simplicity, and began to look towards more elaborate High Renaissance models. Schnorr von Carolsfeld is also known for his Picture Bible which was published in 1852–60. His biblical drawings and cartoons for frescoes formed a natural prelude to designs for church windows, and his renown in Germany secured commissions in Great Britain.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld

About the Music: “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” from the album Bach’s Greatest Hits

"Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" is a popular piece of choral music. It is the tenth movement of the cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben. Bach did not compose the melody, which was written by Johann Schop. Bach only harmonized and orchestrated Schop's melody. The words for the piece come from an eighteen-stanza poem by Martin Janus, who is thought to have written the hymn around 1661. Today, Bach's hymn is often performed at weddings and funerals, and is one of Bach's most enduring pieces of music.
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesu,_Joy_of_Man%27s_Desiring

Lyrics:
Jesu, joy of man's desiring,
Holy wisdom, love most bright;
Drawn by Thee, our souls aspiring,
Soar to uncreated light.
Word of God, our flesh that fashioned,
With the fire of life impassioned,
Striving still to truth unknown,
Soaring, dying round Thy throne.

About the Composers: Lyrics: Martin Janus, Music: Johann Schop and Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist of the baroque period. He established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organization, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Mass in B Minor, The Well-Tempered Clavier, two Passions, keyboard works, and more than three hundred cantatas, of which nearly one hundred cantatas have been lost to posterity. His music is revered for its intellectual depth, technical command, and artistic beauty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Sebastian-Bach

Martin Janus (1620–1682) was a German Protestant minister, church musician, hymn writer, teacher, and editor. He wrote the lyrics of the hymn "Jesu, Meiner Seelen Wonne," which became popular in the arrangement of a Bach chorale as “Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Janus

Johann Schop (ca. 1590–1667) was a German violinist and composer, much admired as a musician and a technician, who was a virtuoso and whose compositions for the violin set impressive technical demands for that area at that time. His melody Werde munter, mein Gemüte of 1641 was used by Johann Sebastian Bach for the chorale movements (6 and 10) of his cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Schop

About the Performers: New London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski with the Norman Luboff Choir

New London Symphony Orchestra (NLO) began as a body of players regularly assembled by Ronald Corp to accompany concerts given by Highgate Choral Society, and was formally founded in 1988. It developed into an orchestra specializing in rarely heard late nineteenth- and twentieth-century repertoire. It is based in London. With Corp as artistic director, the orchestra has helped to bring the music of Martinu to a wider audience and to reestablish the popularity of British Light Music through a series of recordings on the independent label Hyperion Records. In the field of education, the orchestra has devised projects which use music as a tool to enhance learning in the key curriculum subjects of math, literacy, and science. Following its “Newham Welcomes the World” community project, the NLO has focused its concert-giving and outreach work in the local community in the London Borough of Newham. The orchestra is independent of public funding, being reliant on private sponsorship and donations. A characteristic of the New London Orchestra (NLO) has been its programming of unusual repertoire, including lesser-known works by famous composers and pieces by little-known composers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_London_Orchestra

Leopold Stokowski (1882–1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-twentieth century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appearance in the Disney film Fantasia. He was especially noted for his freehand conducting style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from the orchestras he directed. Stokowski was music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the NBC Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, and many others. He was also the founder of the All-American Youth Orchestra, the New York City Symphony, the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra, and the American Symphony Orchestra. Stokowski was a lifelong champion of contemporary composers, giving many premieres of new music during his sixty-year conducting career.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_Stokowski

Norman Luboff was the founder and conductor of the Norman Luboff Choir, one of the leading choral groups of the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. They came to prominence through their participation in the very successful Christmas broadcasts with singer Bing Crosby which ran from 1955 to 1962. History was made in 1956 when Luboff and his choir recorded with Harry Belafonte on Calypso, the first album to sell one million copies. The choral group toured yearly from 1963 to 1987, and recorded more than seventy-five albums. The holiday albums Songs of Christmas (1956) and Christmas with the Norman Luboff Choir (1964) were perennial bestsellers for years. Luboff and his choir won the 1961 Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Chorus. Luboff was also a guest conductor at many choirs in the United States and abroad.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Luboff

About the Poetry & Poet:
Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Born in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American Civil War, Dunbar began writing stories and verse when he was a child. He published his first poems at the age of sixteen in a Dayton newspaper, and served as president of his high school's literary society. Dunbar's popularity increased rapidly after his work was praised by William Dean Howells, a leading editor associated with Harper's Weekly. Dunbar became one of the first African American writers to establish an international reputation. In addition to his poems, short stories, and novels, he also wrote the lyrics for the musical comedy In Dahomey (1903), the first all–African American musical produced on Broadway in New York. Dunbar is considered the first important African American sonnet writer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Laurence_Dunbar
https://poets.org/poet/paul-laurence-dunbar

About the Devotion Author:
Dr. Greg E. Ganssle
Professor of Philosophy
Talbot School of Theology
Biola University

Gregory Ganssle is a professor of philosophy at the Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. His interest is in the philosophy of religion and the history of philosophy. His latest book is Our Deepest Desires: How the Christian Story Fulfills Human Aspiration (IVP, 2017). Recently, he edited Philosophical Essays on Divine Causation (Routledge, 2022). His current project is a book called, Life, Death, Freedom: Jesus Questions Nietzsche.

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